Season Reviews: Premier League Capsule Review
Chelsea
Season in a nutshell: Imperious. Led from the outset, topping the table from week one. Dropped a miserly six points in their first 14 matches (away to Man City, United and Sunderland). Less spectacular in the final third of the season – 28 goals in their first 12 matches, just 17 in their last 12 – but Champions at a canter.
Who impressed: Summer signing Diego Costa hit the ground running, scoring 11 in his first ten matches and 20 overall. Likewise Cesc Fabregas, who had chalked up 15 of his 18 assists by Christmas. Eden Hazard shuffled up the ranking of PL’s most wanted with 12 goals and ten assists.
Who depressed: Juan Cuadrado joined in January, but after just three appearances (one assist) could be gone by August.
Fancy stat: John Terry played every minute of every match. Adding five goals to his 17 clean sheets.
Word to the wise: Not afraid to win ugly. And love a 2-0 win at home – a third of their matches at the Bridge went that way. Team to beat.
Season in a nutshell: Patchy. The best of the rest, but never in contention after dropping points at Arsenal and v Chelsea inside the first five matches. Inconsistency and poor away form – W1 D2 L4 between January and April – even gave Arsenal a chance at the runners-up spot.
Who impressed: Sergio Aguero (28 goals, eight assists) and David Silva (12 and seven) remain the shining lights. With honorable mentions to full backs Aleksander Kolorav (two goal, three assists and nine clean sheets from just 16 matches) and Pablo Zabaleta (one, five and 11 from 29).
Who depressed: Stefan Jovetic performed well in his ten appearances (five goals, three assists) but couldn’t get enough pitch time and now looks surplus.
Fancy stat: Eliaquim Mangala returned more clean sheets (11) than Demichelis (nine) or Kompany (seven) last season and his goals conceded ratio (0.88) was the best of the three.
Word to the wise: Sterling is the answer. First Raheem, but plenty more money will need to be thrown at City to make them Champions again.
Arsenal
Season in a nutshell: Standard. A shocking start (just two wins in their first eight) gave way to a sensational run-in (nine wins from ten) which only faltered when thoughts turned to the FA Cup final. Flirted with a challenge for runners-up spot, but comfortably in the CL places ten heads ahead of schedule.
Who impressed: Summer splurge Alexis Sanchez lit up the season with 16 goals and eight assists. Santi Cazorla enjoyed his most consistent campaign (seven goals and 11 assists). And despite an injury hit season, Olivier Giroud delivered an excellent 14 goals from 21 starts.
Who depressed: Aaron Ramsey was blunted by his wide right role (six goals and six assists). And Wilshere, Walcott and Oxlaide-Chamberlain’s fragile health frustrated fans and Fantasy managers. Again.
Fancy stat: Arsenal won 58 points from a possible 66 v teams who finished 10th and below.
Word to the wise: Top four fodder. But three players short of genuine title contenders. Like they have been since 2005.
Manchester United
Season in a nut shell: Satisfactory. A promising pre-season quickly descended into a farce of fitness, form and changing formations. Three at the back brought just three wins from the first ten matches, but solid – sometimes dour – home form steadied the ship for the required top four finish.
Who impressed: David De Gea can claim sole responsibility for most of his ten cleans sheets. Juan Mata had a consistent 2nd half of the season, hitting nine goals and four assists. But Wayne Rooney remains the man at United with 12 and seven.
Who depressed: Angel Di Maria managed a remarkable ten assists from his 17 matches, but his season was patchy. More to come, we hope.
Fancy stat: David De Gea received more back passes than any other goalkeeper last season.
Word to the wise: Still a work in progress. They’ll see more new faces at Old Trafford before trophies.
Tottenham Hotspur
Season in a nutshell: Ragged. A scruffy season, perhaps sidetracked by cup competitions – a trip to the final of the Capital One Cup and ten matches in the Europa League. Inconsistent, disappointing at home and grateful for Liverpool and Southampton’s season tailing off to claim 5th.
Who impressed: Young Player of the Year Harry Kane was the undoubted high spot, with 21 goals and six assists. The stylish Christian Eriksen (ten goals, two assists) and unsung Nacer Chadli (11 and five) the bridesmaids.
Who depressed: Eric Lamela’s ability has flickered intermittently (two goals and seven assists) but ultimately shed no light on whether he has what it takes in the PL.
Fancy stat: Almost a quarter (23%) of Tottenham’s matches ended in 2-1 wins this season.
Word to the wise: Kane has propped Tottenham up this season. Only one place but a million miles from CL qualification.
Liverpool
Season in a nutshell: Troubled. Just four wins in the opening third of the season signaled problems. Then a run of 12 win in 17 looked to have restored the faith, before back to back defeats to CL rivals Man United and Arsenal sent the season into a tailspin.
Who impressed: Jordan Henderson added end product to his game, scoring six and providing nine assists. Raheem Sterling underlined, if not enhanced his reputation with seven goals and assists. And Philippe Coutinho’s five goals and five assists hinted at more in the locker.
Who depressed: A return of 29 matches, eight goals and eight assists might do for one underperforming Liverpool striker. But that was the sum total of Mario Balotelli, Fabio Borini, Daniel Sturridge AND Rickie Lambert.
Fancy stat: Liverpool managed just 5pts from a possible 25 v top four teams.
Word to the wise: Another year of talking about players NOT there – Suarez, Gerrard, soon to Sterling and too often Sturridge. Big season for the likes of Balotelli, Lallana. Oh, and Rodgers.
Southampton
Season in a nutshell: Blessed. After a £100 million turnaround of Saints marching out and in during the summer, eight wins in the first 11 matches was a sensational start. It couldn’t last, of course and didn’t. But an exceptional defensive record ensured 7th place despite running out of steam in the run-in.
Who impressed: Southampton’s stars were at the back – goalkeeper Fraser Forster and full backs Nathaniel Clyne and Ryan Bertrand chalking up 13 clean sheets apiece. With centre back Jose Fonte nailing all 15.
Who depressed: Graziano Pelle’s form dipped with Southampton’s – six of his 12 goals came in the first quarter of the season and 11 of them were scored at home.
Fancy stat: Southampton conceded just twice in 12 matches v teams below them at home.
Word to the wise: The vultures are circling again, with at least Clyne, Morgan Schneiderlin and Jose Fonte being courted by bigger clubs. A repeat showing looks the best they can hope for.
Swansea City
Season in a nutshell: Astute. The opening day win at Old Trafford was a highlight but no flash in the pan. A remarkably consistent season based on being very efficient v the bottom six – 28pts from a possible 36; solid at home v the middle seven – W3 D3 L1. And taking what they can from the top six – maximum points from Man United and Arsenal.
Who impressed: The departing Bony handed the goal scoring responsibilities to Bafetimbi Gomis, who hit a promising seven in 16 matches. But Gylfi Sigurdsson’s seven goals and ten assists from 32 matches make for the best reading.
Who depressed: Wilfried Bony’s departure for man City’s bench after nine goals and two assists in 16 matches up to January deprives Swansea and Fantasy manager of a valuable point machine.
Fancy stat: Swansea are only the third team ever to do the double of Man United and Arsenal in the same PL season.
Word to the wise: Manager Garry Monk is shrewd enough to know we won’t get 12 points from those two again. Top ten doable, top half will do.
Stoke City
Season in a nutshell: Solid. Steady improvement on last season – 9th place again, but four points better off. Again based on being strong at home and resilient on their travels. On home form alone Stoke would’ve finished 7th and only three teams defended better on the road.
Who impressed: Charlie Adam ended the season in outstanding scoring form, scoring five of his seven in the last eight matches. And Mame Diouf proved a threat all season, delivering 11 goals and three assists.
Who depressed: Marko Arnautovic has a touch of Eric Cantona about him. But only a touch. His seven assists only hints at what he could, perhaps should be achieving.
Fancy stat: Only the top five teams scored more goals than Stoke last season.
What we know: Any improvement will take significant investment, but a repeat showing will be seen as a decent achievement.
Crystal Palace
Season in a nutshell: Miraculous. A season of two halves. And three managers. Losing Tony Pulis on the eve of the season prompted a predictable tailspin, which the arrival of Neil Warnock did little to arrest. But after just three wins in the opening 20 matches Alan Pardew’s arrival inspired a run of eight wins from 12 and a top half finish.
Who impressed: Jason Puncheon’s six goals and seven assists was an impressive return from midfield. Three of Yannick Bolasie’s four goals might’ve come in the space of ten minutes (at Sunderland) but he also weighed in with six assists.
Who depressed: The combined efforts of Frazier Campbell, Dwight Gayle, Glenn Murray and Marouane Chamakh merely underline Palace’s need of a striker.
Fancy stat: Palace only lost twice to teams outside the top four on their travels. On away form alone they would’ve finished 5th.
What we know: Two spectacular half seasons have delivered consecutive 11th and 10th place finishes. A decent full season and to go one better would be a remarkable hat-trick.
The second part of the review, covering PL placings 12th to 20th will follow shortly…
Matt Nesbitt is a one-time player, long-time tipster and full-time fan of the beautiful game. He is a regular guest on TipTV.co.uk and the man behind Premier League Match Predictor MatchSim.com. Email: mattnesbitt
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service – if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
